[flamehunter]

HE also tied the record for made 3's with 8.

[Purple Haize]

I think Preston is out with Covid.

Got dominated inside that half. Going to be lucky if we get out of here with a win. Doesn’t look good.

I’ll be very surprised if we win this one. Hope I’m wrong though.

Glad you were wrong

[lueer]

Me too! Didnt count on 48 from Darius!

[aredd33]

I think Preston is out with Covid.

Got dominated inside that half. Going to be lucky if we get out of here with a win. Doesn’t look good.

I’ll be very surprised if we win this one. Hope I’m wrong though.

Glad you were wrong

Me too!
What a phenomenal second half. Darius is so special. We’re so lucky to have him and Malik at the same time. And turns out the key to stopping their big man Samuel was put him on the free throw line.

[tyndal23]

Incredible performance and so glad I watched. ( watched the women’s as well ). So glad it wasn’t a L like Stanford. Now let’s have the discipline to run our O and move the ball all game moving forward and keep getting better as a team. Special night and special performance, don’t let it turn us in to Trae Young OU team where everyone just starts watching and stops playing.

[Purple Haize]

Incredible performance and so glad I watched. ( watched the women’s as well ). So glad it wasn’t a L like Stanford. Now let’s have the discipline to run our O and move the ball all game moving forward and keep getting better as a team. Special night and special performance, don’t let it turn us in to Trae Young OU team where everyone just starts watching and stops playing.

But Trae Young’s last college season (and that Curry kid too) were amazing. LU would relish that type of exposure!

[JK37]

But Trae Young’s last college season [was] amazing.

Except when he played Jevon.

I hated Trae. Still do. Terrorized Big XII, terrorized my Sixers.

[tyndal23]

But Trae Young’s last college season [was] amazing.

Except when he played Jevon.

I hated Trae. Still do. Terrorized Big XII, terrorized my Sixers.

Trae wasn’t very well loved in Oklahoma when rest of the team turned on him. Completely different scenario with McGhee - he is a senior and a leader, but hopefully the scoring evens out some the rest of the way, or the only thing we will be talking about the 22 season is McGhee and not a 4th Straight Tourney Appearance. Delicate balance and I get we needed it with Preston out tonight.

[rtb72]

Wow...just got back home to watch the playback. DM is amazing....smooth and composed. Second takeaway....the scoreboard operators at FGCU are a ball in high weeds. Never seen a debacle like that with the scoreboard before.

[jmclaughlin]

That…was…fun.
INCREDIBLE PERFORMANCE! Had to wait till late to watch it. So glad I didn’t glance at the box score before starting. Might have been the best shooting game I have ever seen in a college game?!?! With a natural bias of course. Only 2 others pop into my mind that were close (maybe because the 90’s were my hoops Mecca): Randolph Childress in the ACC tourney in 95 and Shawn Respert of Michigan State around that time. They had the benefit of 19’.9” though.
Tonight was the kind of game you will tell your grandkids about.

[thepostman]

So DM is the best player to lace them up for LU, right?Scoring 48 points in this system is near impossible. What a performance.

[olldflame]

But Trae Young’s last college season [was] amazing.

Except when he played Jevon.

I hated Trae. Still do. Terrorized Big XII, terrorized my Sixers.

Trae wasn’t very well loved in Oklahoma when rest of the team turned on him. Completely different scenario with McGhee - he is a senior and a leader, but hopefully the scoring evens out some the rest of the way, or the only thing we will be talking about the 22 season is McGhee and not a 4th Straight Tourney Appearance. Delicate balance and I get we needed it with Preston out tonight.

Based on production, one could also say we played without McDowell and Abii.

[jack_sparrow81]

Haven't been to an actual LU basketball game since the 2004 Big South Championship and a game at UCF during the DL era, but was able to attend this one with friends since we live in the SW Florida. What an incredible game! You could tell the size difference at the beginning during warmups, and I figured we were done for the night especially without Preston, but wow what a game.

[flameshaw]

So DM is the best player to lace them up for LU, right?Scoring 48 points in this system is near impossible. What a performance.

IMHO, Peter Aluma is still the GOAT. However, DM is a very close second and clearly the best guard we have ever had. He is very exciting to watch.

[Geraldos Mustache]

Everyone needs to chill out and take a step back for a moment…

Congrats to McGhee on a record-breaking night. Awesome stuff.

Now back to reality…
Liberty should have gotten blown out in that game. FGCU’s top player was 0-12 from the field at one point in the game. If he makes an average percentage of shots - we lose. Their big man is a terrible free throw shooter. If he makes just a few free throws - we lose. If McGhee misses just a couple of his circus three-point attempts - we lose.

Once you get past celebrating a big night for McGhee - there is a LOT to be concerned about. My hope is in Ritchie being able to find the right chemistry with this young, promising team and reach their fullest potential.

[stokesjokes]

I had similar thoughts, @Geraldos Mustache. I was watching thinking that if this is supposed to be a rebuilding year, imagine what next year is going to look like without McGhee. It’s going to be ugly at times. Hopefully someone else steps up as a shot creator.

Also, on the GOAT debate, Darius is certainly the best scorer of all time, even if he doesn’t have the total points record. It all comes down to what you want to value. I can think of players with more all-around games, players with as much success at LU, and at least one former player who will certainly have more pro success than Darius. Nobody who could “go off” the way McThree did last night, though.

[thepostman]

I get that sentiment a little bit but it is ok to be happy for at least a little.

This team has plenty of flaws and most expected us to be slightly down this year so we have got to at least be happy with the things that break our way.

[Geraldos Mustache]

It’s early, but after what we’ve seen thus far in the ASUN, who is the favorite to win the Conference and the auto-bid to the NCAA Tournament?
Does Liberty prevail?
If not, who is the front runner?

[stokesjokes]

It’s gotta be presumed us for now. Jacksonville State looks tough, though. If it’s not us, it’s them.

[Kricket]

First off, one of the most amazing performances I've seen from McGhee. No way we win that game without McGhee's performance.

Venzant will be much less heralded, but if FGCU had Venzant, McGhee maybe scores 20 and not 48.

Offensively it's hard to tell what we got with some of the younger players since they don't shoot much. Some of that is they don't have confidence and some of it is deferring to McGhee. I also think McGhee is serviceable on D but not really amazing due to his height.

Next year it will take time to establish an identity on offense but I think we will be fine. I'm a little down on Abii. He seems to play out of control offensively. I'm not sure he'll ever come around fully. Venzant and Peebles I think will both be really good offensively by the end of their careers. Shiloh probably could score even more with more chances, but I don't really think we find out until next year.

[olldflame]

First off, one of the most amazing performances I've seen from McGhee. No way we win that game without McGhee's performance.

Venzant will be much less heralded, but if FGCU had Venzant, McGhee maybe scores 20 and not 48.

Offensively it's hard to tell what we got with some of the younger players since they don't shoot much. Some of that is they don't have confidence and some of it is deferring to McGhee. I also think McGhee is serviceable on D but not really amazing due to his height.

Next year it will take time to establish an identity on offense but I think we will be fine. I'm a little down on Abii. He seems to play out of control offensively. I'm not sure he'll ever come around fully. Venzant and Peebles I think will both be really good offensively by the end of their careers. Shiloh probably could score even more with more chances, but I don't really think we find out until next year.

Abii had a truly awful night. As far as Shiloh or any of our other current inside players getting increased minutes next year, I would say it's unlikely. We have Noone leaving, 2 signees coming in, and Spell coming off redshirt.

[flameshaw]

Our BIG drawback is lack of consistency from our BIGS. None of them are real scoring threats and are small on defense.
We will just have to see what happens as we continue in the conference. We definitely have some weaknesses. We also need to find a BIG in the portal for next year if possible.

[olldflame]

Our BIG drawback is lack of consistency from our BIGS. None of them are real scoring threats and are small on defense.
We will just have to see what happens as we continue in the conference. We definitely have some weaknesses. We also need to find a BIG in the portal for next year if possible.

A couple of observations. After a slow start, Shiloh has been our second best scorer averaging over 13ppg over the past 8 games. As far as adding size next year, we have 6'7" Ben Southerland and 6'8" Zack Cleveland signed to NLIs, and 6'9" Bryson Spell coming off redshirt. No scholarships available for an incoming transfer as things stand now, but of course that could change.

[ballcoach15]

I'd like to see Abii start a game and get about 30-35 minutes, just to see what he can do for a full game.

[olldflame]

I'd like to see Abii start a game and get about 30-35 minutes, just to see what he can do for a full game.

No. Especially now that we are in conference play. Not the time to "experiment", and why would you think he would be better playing more minutes?